There is a plain boring species of bird called a cowbird. It is gray with a brown head. The cowbird lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. The cowbird chicks grow quickly, and may consume most of the food the host brings. If starvation does not kill the other birds' chicks, in some species the baby cowbird will use its large size to push the other chicks out of the nest. Other species of cowbirds simply share the nests. The other day, we were watching the birds when we saw a cardinal hen feeding a young chick. Cardinals will feed each other seeds in a very sweet manner, usually you see the mated pairs doing this in the spring. On closer inspection, it was obvious that this cardinal hen was not feeding a cardinal chick, but was clearly shepherding around a little almond shaped gray baby. If birds are self-aware, the chick probably wonders if it will be crested and red when it grows up. But for now, it was fluttering its wings happily and following its mom around. If the other birds looked oddly at Mr. and Mrs. C., they didn't seem to notice. Us mother hens must care for the chicks, just because they need to be cared for.
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